Banality of Evil

Hannah Arendt said that evil was actually a quite banal thing. Being alive tonight, election night, is to see the truth of that statement demonstrated.

Why I Support McCain

One may wonder why, with the continuously underwhelming performance of Sarah Palin, I have not given up support for John McCain and endorsed Barack Obama. I don't really know who would wonder this; I'm just another fish in the sea so it isn't like my endorsement matters anyway, but, if someone does wonder this, not the least of which myself, here is the answer:

Over the past week, there were a few people within the so-called conservative movement who jumped ship, mostly because of Sarah Palin. She is not an intellectual, she is not a populist, she has less political philosophy than Mike Huckabee and no more experience than John Edwards and Barack Obama. But, on the other hand, she's running for vice-president, not president, and you have to think of the man who is running for president: John McCain.

John McCain is not a good man, but he is a great one. He is a hero in the Achillean sense of the term; who else could have spent eight years in a rathole, refusing to sign anti-American propaganda while having his bones re-broken? Since Barack Obama wouldn't leave a church to avoid this rhetoric, I doubt that he would have stayed in a prison cell to do so. But what has become of this nation that we value honor so little and reputation so much?

GRE

I'm done with my Subject GRE and would like to thank everyone for all the prayers.

Obama? Pro-Life? Please.

For all pro-lifers who are planning on going for Obama, you should read this article by Robert George:

http://thepublicdiscourse.com/viewarticle.php?selectedarticle=2008.10.14_George_Robert_Obama%27s%20Abortion%20Extremism_.xml

The Bard's Encouragement

Since we are almost sure to lose in November, here's some words of encouragement for disgruntled conservatives:

Now my co-mates and brothers in exile,
Hath not old custom made this life more sweet
Than that of painted pomp? Are not these woods
More free from peril than the envious court?
Here feel we not the penalty of Adam,
The seasons' difference, as the icy fang
And churlish chiding of the winter's wind,
Which when it bites and blows upon my body
Even till I shrink with cold, I smile, and say
'This is no flattery. These are counsellors
That feelingly persuade me what I am.'
Sweet are the uses of adversity
Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head;
And this our life, exempt from public hauntm
Finds tongues in trees, books running in brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in everything.

Terrorism's New Structure - WSJ.com

This is an older article, but it's definitely worth reading.

Terrorism's New Structure - WSJ.com

VP Debate

Joe Biden, during the VP debate, said that there should be no "civil rights" distinction between same-sex couples and heterosexual couples. This would check out if marriage were, indeed, a civil right defined in the constitution, but it isn't. Marriage is something that the state subsidizes because it is deemed to be good for the society at large. (Generally, heterosexual marriage is deemed to be good for society because it encourages procreation.) Therefore, affording special privileges to those who do not benefit society at large is discrimination against the rest of society. This isn't to say that I oppose gay marriage. I support the move to have it instituted in San Fransico if the vast majority of San Franciscans are willing to support it. The point is that this issue is much more complex than Senator Biden would lead us to believe.